AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Seventeen
Trace
Although that record-breaking storm seemed as if it would never pass, all things do, and Christmas Day dawned bright and clear. We’d been alone since the night of Yule, but it was time to present ourselves to the pack alphas and tell them everything that had been going on since our arrival on their lands.
If not for the storm, it would have been unforgivable not to have approached the alphas immediately when we crossed the invisible boundaries of their lands. Invisible to humans, but a shifter would recognize the signs, and the scents. But between the storm and thinking we might have some terribly contagious disease, we had of course, decided to wait and hope to be forgiven later. We wouldn’t go to meet them now, but our mate had determined we were affected by a toxin of some kind which she’d managed to clear from our systems without having any of the symptoms herself. In her capacity as pack healer, she had declared it safe for us to be around any of the other members.
For dinner. We would be attending Christmas dinner at the alphas’ home.
“Incat, I hope this goes well,” I told the ball of fur that seemed have accepted us as part of her world. She had retaken possession of the daybed at night, but graciously shared it with us during the day. Except if we went outside, when I’d seen her watching from the table by the window. “Because it means everything.”
“It will be fine.” I startled before realizing Cerine had come into the room. She yawned wide. “That is if I can manage to stay awake during dinner. You two are going to kill me with all the sex.” Her comment would have held more validity if her yawn hadn’t morphed into a satisfied grin.
Still…“Are you all right?” I looked her over for bruises or signs we’d been to rough. “Do we need to slow down?”
“No way. I’ll build stamina.” She kissed me on the lips and leaned into me. “Maybe we can skip dinner and work on that.”
“You’ve really become a greedy minx,” I teased. “And while I’d love to stay home and show you how greedy minxes are punished, we need to meet the alphas before they find out we’re here and ignoring them.”
“There’s punishment?” Her eyes sparkled. “Like…a spanking maybe?”
“It’s not a punishment if you like it.” Finton came up behind her and dropped a kiss on her neck. “But it could still be fun. What time is dinner?”
“Noon, so we’d better get ready.” She poured a cup of coffee and added cream. “We need to get more diesel for the generator from the pack stores as well. Or we’ll be using the snow to refrigerate our food and sitting around in the dark.”
“Do you think the alpha female will mind that we’re coming? It’s two more mouths to feed, without warning.” Finton kissed her neck again before leaning past her to kiss me good morning.
“She’ll be very happy to meet you,” Cerine assured us both. “Now, is there toast?”
We didn’t have any Christmas presents for one another, but it didn’t matter because we had more creative ways to show our thoughtfulness and affection, ways that made us all wear that satisfied smile.
As to our hosts, Cerine had suggested we bake some cookies to take with us, at least, and we’d done that and eaten only a few before wrapping them up. We might have snuck a few more this morning…we being me, but it was Christmas after all.
